DAILY- HOMILY

AUGUST 1, 2010
18TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – C

ECCLESIASTES 1:2; 2:21-23
Sheer futility, Qoheleth says. Sheer futility: everything is futile!
For here is one who has laboured wisely, skilfully and successfully
and must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it at
all. This is futile too, and grossly unjust; for what does he gain for
all the toil and strain that he has undergone under the sun- since his
days are full of sorrow, his work is full of stress and even at night
he has no peace of mind? This is futile too.

COLOSSIANS 3:1-5, 9-11
Since you have been raised up to be with Christ, you must look for the
things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand.
Let your thoughts be on things above, not on the things that are on
the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden
with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed -- and he is your life-
you, too, will be revealed with him in glory. That is why you must
kill everything in you that is earthly: sexual vice, impurity,
uncontrolled passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the
same thing as worshipping a false god; and do not lie to each other.
You have stripped off your old behaviour with your old self, and you
have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the
more it is renewed in the image of its Creator; and in that image
there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the
circumcised and uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian,
slave and free. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in
everything.

LUKE 12:13-21
A man in the crowd said to him, 'Master, tell my brother to give me a
share of our inheritance.' He said to him, 'My friend, who appointed
me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?' Then he said to
them, 'Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for
life does not consist in possessions, even when someone has more than
he needs.' Then he told them a parable, 'There was once a rich man
who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself,
"What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops." Then he
said, "This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build
bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will
say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for
many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time."
But God said to him, "Fool! This very night the demand will be made
for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?" So it
is when someone stores up treasure for himself instead of becoming
rich in the sight of God.'

REFLECTION
All material things are given to us by our creator to be enjoyed. But
it is easy to become enslaved by them. We may find ourselves driven by
the urge for more and more. And every time we surrender to that inner
desire for gratification, we lose a little more of that inner freedom
that allows us to exercise the great human power to choose. Indeed
this is the key to the talk about money in the bible, the role it
plays in our lives, and the role that it cannot and should not play in
our lives, no matter how much we might want it to or how much the
world tells us it can.

There are all kinds of greed. For some it is simple avarice, the kind
of wanting more that will drive people to buy lottery ticket after
ticket or to work long hours to get ahead, where enough is never
enough. For others, greed takes the form of plain old idolatry. It is
the idolatry that we see in those who use their money for more than
what they need, but do not even consider sharing their wealth to help
others in need.

The Church places the same emphasis on Jesus' teaching on wealth as on
his other teachings. Money and our attitude concerning who deserves it
and who does not, how we use it and how we feel about it, is a
barometer of our spiritual health and insight. It is symbolic of where
we are in our spiritual life.

Our attitude towards wealth and possessions shows us where our hearts
are, what we really believe, and what we really desire. Hear once
again our Lord. Ponder the message that he is speaking to us today
when he says: "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."
Consider where we would be in relationship to the Lord, and to the
entire world. Reflect on what it is that God is calling us to do, and
do it in faith, trust and joy, knowing that whatever it is, it is of
God, and God is good.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- See Yung Hui
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of J.E.S.
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Apolonio Lugsanay and Sepa Lugsanay
- Miguel Fabie
Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Norin Gener
- Birthday: Lyn Tan
- Birthday: Esther Rosca
- Birthday: Marcela Sim
- Wedding Anniversary: Lizabeth & Benson Tan
- In Memoriam (+): Josefa D. Lim
- In Memoriam (+): President Corazon Aquino
- In Memoriam (+): Anastasia Thobin Pe (1901- 1944)+
… for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers
and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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